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The Royal Visit Continues: Preservation in Louisville

(Left) The Prince of Wales arrives at Louisville's Filson Historical Society for the announcement of Heart of Louisville as the National Trust's newest National Treasure. (Right) National Trust President and CEO Stephanie Meeks meets with Prince Charles.

On Friday, March 20, the Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall continued their visit to the United States in Louisville, Kentucky. As with previous days spent in Washington, D.C., the royal couple devoted significant time to the American historic preservation movement and the National Trust itself.

On Friday afternoon, Prince Charles visited the Filson Historical Society where National Trust President and CEO Stephanie Meeks announced the Heart of Louisville as the Trust’s newest National Treasure.

With Louisville’s designation, the National Trust and Preservation Green Lab will focus on using the city as an urban laboratory where they can apply lessons learned from their livable cities research to help promote the use of the city’s historic buildings as a tool for growth

photo by:
Louisville Images

Preservation Green Lab will use Louisville as an urban laboratory for livable cities research.

After Meeks’ announcement, she presented Prince Charles with a framed photograph of his grandmother, Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, at Woodlawn (a National Trust Historic Site) in 1952. The gift was intended to commemorate the royal family's longstanding support of historic preservation.

Following the presentation, Prince Charles, who heads several charities centered on preservation and the built environment in Britain, gave a short, impromptu speech about his personal connection to preservation and its importance in the larger sustainability and environmental movement.

The royal couple also stopped at the Louisville Harmony and Health Initiative where Duchess Camilla visited the National Trust’s kiosk and met with National Trust and Preservation Green Lab representatives Jason Clement, Grant Stevens, and Margaret O’Neal who outlined the two organizations’ work.

Before the couple’s departure back to Great Britain on Friday, the Prince also gave a speech at Louisville’s Cathedral of the Assumption in which he discussed the importance of the built environment and its role in fostering healthy communities.

Check out the Storify below for more information and photographs of the royal visit to Louisville.

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David Weible is the content specialist at the National Trust, previously with Preservation and Outside magazines. His interest in historic preservation was inspired by the ‘20s-era architecture, streetcar neighborhoods, and bars of his hometown of Cleveland.